Izuna Kurogane
Izuna Kurogane is the main protagonist and titular character of The White Raven Universe, and is the host of the Arsenal Unit. He works for Lokhi, a Shinigami who once saved his life in exchange for helping her track down a rampaging fugitive. "The White Raven" His title was given by Lokhi because of Izuna being affiliated with ravens, and because of the time when he was still young and a mysterious man (who happened to be Izuna's future version visiting the younger version's timeline) gave him the Totsuka and his ideals of being an unsung hero, which implies that it was also given to future Izuna when he was still young by another future Izuna, resulting to the sword's origin being unknown, creating a paradox. She quotes "Raven's Paradox", thus the name "White Raven". Take note however that this is only Lokhi's reference and is not related the real Raven Paradox besides the name. Personality He doesn't talk much but when he does, it means he's comfortable to whoever he's talking to. However, he has the tendency to not let others get close to him by being brutally frank and at the same time, very sarcastic. Although this snarky attitude doesn't seem to affect Kanade at all, who earns his respect. He is so much of a raven enthusiast that he even owns several eldritch familiars which he calls the Council, that take the form of his favorite avian. Kanade sometimes calls him "Nevermore" because of this. He believes that the best people are unsung heroes whose achievements and efforts weren't recognized by the people and prefer to keep it a secret instead of getting famous for it. Appearance Izuna has a build of a tall man in his late twenties, and has red, unkempt hair. His bright red eyes give off an intense glow suggesting that he has a killing intent. Having the body of the Arsenal Unit gives him artificial tissue, which negates aging. His casual attire is composed a fatigue hoodie jacket, a maroon, 3/4 undershirt shirt, black fitting jeans, and white rubber shoes. He also wears a dog tag with the Three Legged Crow's emblem engraved on it. in his battle-ready form, he wears a midnight-blue hooded long coat, and his true arsenal form replaces his organic body. His mask has two sets of glowing red eyes, his cyborg body is pitch black which seems to absorb light, and his whole appearance gives off an intimidating aura . Izuna's weapon of choice is a nodachi called "Totsuka" and is the reason he got his title. It is 6 feet in length, but applying psionic energy enables its hitting range to reach up to 10 feet when swung. The Three Legged Crow Izuna was taken in by Musashi to honor the former's biological father and Musashi's bestfriend's dying wish. He grew up under the intense training of the head of the Clan, often pushing him to his limits. Despite the brutal disciplining, the two were so close and was in a father-and-son like relationship. Encounter with a stranger During his solitary training in the mountains, Izuna meets a mysterious man sitting under a tree, asking for water. The young apprentice felt suspicious at first but finally gave the stranger his canteen. As thanks, the man (who was actually a future version of Izuna) told him a story about a lone warrior who saved the world without the people ever knowing it. Izuna got really hooked on the story and eagerly asked what happens next. With a smirk, the man patted his head saying "The rest of the story is up to you to find out" and gave him a long nodachi which he calls "Totsuka". But Izuna didn't know what to do with it because he preferred using knives and he was still too short to use the tall blade. Seeing the confused look on the boy's face, the stranger stood up and said "Don't worry, kid. The time will come for you to realize everything and you'll thank me for it. And then, you're going to do what i did to you today." The stranger bid Izuna farewell and disappeared into the forest. As a shinobi Izuna was Musashi's best student and trusty apprentice, so far as sending him off alone to enemy territories without any backup. He had grown into one of the clan's most feared shinobis, notorious for leaving no trace of his assassinations besides corvids feasting on the target's lifeless corpse. He meets a fellow student of Musashi; a kunoichi named Honoka. Later on, the meeting develops into a romantic relationship which is an excuse his master uses to tease the couple, much to Izuna's chagrin. The fall of the Yatagarasu An unidentified saboteur stole one of the Clan's forbidden relics which summons the Yamato no Orochi and killed the shamans who are the ones capable of sealing it back. With the sealers out of the way, the monstrous serpent wreaked havoc across the land, annihilating anything within its reach. Houses pulverized, men, women and children ran for their lives, dead bodies everywhere, the entire village was in disarray. Musashi, Izuna, and a handful of loyal warriors fought desperately to drive the Orochi away from the main house, but to no avail. Aware that the odds aren't in their favor, the Clan's head ordered Izuna to take his newborn child and flee to somewhere safe. He handed him the most valued treasure of their clan, a small round shaped jewel, and said "I am proud that I have raised you like my own son". Izuna was hesitant, but agreed and retreated to the main house. He held back his tears as he heard the cries of anguish let out by his foster father. Izuna arrived at the house and found that the child (to his relief) is still peacefully sleeping. He suddenly remembers the sword given by the stranger and went to his room to fetch it. Few moments later, he escaped from the back of the house with the Totsuka stapped to his back while holding the sleeping child in his arms. On his way out of the village, he is pursued by the saboteur and struck him in the back with the poisoned throwing knife. But he kept on going. Had he not prioritized the infant's safety, he could have easily taken care of the enemy. Finally, he reached the outskirts beside a steep cliff. Struggling to fight the effects of the poison, and worse, cornered by the culprit, he fell to his knees, hugged the infant, and hoped that someone will come to his aid even though he knew that no one was able to do so. Before the culprit could deliver the coup de grace, the orb his master illuminated and created a temporal rift. Izuna was still dumbfounded and still couldn't figure out what was going on, but a voice in his head tells him that it was the only way to save the child. He hugged Kanade and whispered with teary eyes and a trembling voice, "I'm sorry I can't be by your side either, master. Farewell". Then reached out to what was left of his strength and threw the baby into the rift. As the hole slowly disappeared, he turned to the saboteur, swallowed the orb and said with a devilish smirk on his face, "The treasure you're after will go with me. Enjoy your pyrrhic victory" and detonated a bomb on his hand, making the cliff collapse. As he fell from the cliff, he hears a faint voice asking him if he wants to protect the child. He replies with a voiceless "yes" right before his consciousness fades away. 'Acquiring the Arsenal Unit' Izuna wakes up in a "strange white room filled with unfamiliar devices". He soon finds out that instead of a human body, he has a pitch-black mechanical exoskeleton and some of the devices' "ropes" were latched onto it. Suddenly the sliding door in front him opens and a woman who reeked of death named Lokhi entered and explained to him that she had scavenged his soul from his body, which was mangled by the bomb, and implanted it to the metal doll she calls the "Arsenal Unit". Present Day Abilities A favored student and apprentice of Musashi, his skills in tracking and hunting down targets is second to none. Effectively taking them out with ease. He was even trained to see in the dark and in far away places with the naked eye. Basically, he was Musashi's personal shinobi. As the host of the Arsenal Unit, Izuna's already lethal fighting skills is greatly augmented, far surpassing human limitations. Ranging from absorbing impacts from heavy artillery to withstanding strong pressure which could have crushed human bones. Lokhi also gave him access to supernatural powers which include: *being able to "blink" himself by creating a dimensional distortion, jumping into it, and reappearing to another place. all this happens as quickly as the eye can blink. *summoning several familiars which he uses as scouts and even as weapons. *exploiting Shinigamis' "Locker" which captures a victim's soul and imprisons it in a pocket dimension. This is exclusive only to key targets assigned to him by Lokhi. The unit also has a built in computer and can be operated by projecting a holographic interface around the host. Trivia *The "White Raven" is only a figure of speech of something that is either very rare or does not exist at all. *Izuna's title is not related to the real Raven Paradox, but rather, the Bootstrap Paradox. *The Totsuka (or "Ten-span") Blade is based from the sword of the same name, owned by the Shinto god, Susanoo. *Izuna's birthday, January 29 is also the date of Edgar Allan Poe's first publication of his poem, "The Raven". *the Locker is a homage to Davy Jones's Locker. Category:Male Characters